Chicago Tribune

When it comes to year-end lists, I'm a hypocrite. I read them obsessively. I seek them out across vast expanses of the Internet. I'm thrilled when they teach me something.

And yet, for a variety of reasons, I hate constructing my own.

What's more, with the arrival of streaming services like Spotify and Rhapsody, year-end albums lists are starting to feel old fashioned.

With that in mind, here's a list of music-related things I enjoyed in 2013. Some of them are albums. Some are not. Some are songs. Some are not. Merry Christmas to all. I hope my list makes your list of the best year-end lists.

Related "Chicago Tribune" Articles

When it comes to year-end lists, I'm a hypocrite. I read them obsessively. I seek them out across vast expanses of the Internet. I'm thrilled when they teach me something.
And yet, for a variety of reasons, I hate constructing my own.
What's more,...

Tribune Co., parent company of the Los Angeles Times and seven other daily newspapers, including Daily Press, is reviewing operations in an effort that will likely result in staff reductions.
Tribune announced in July that it planned to separate its...

Can anyone at Virginia Tech become the next Ed Vereb, Scott Sisson, or Peter Boulware? That will be the prevailing question Saturday when the Hokies open their football season against No. 1 Alabama in the Georgia Dome.
Unless my eyes misread the agate,...

Lots going on with former Bruton High and Longwood University baseball star Mark Montgomery these days. He got to pitch a little with the New York Yankees earlier in spring training and, according to numerous media outlets, is poised to make it to the...

Duke’s NCAA tournament Friday against Albany returns Blue Devils associate head coach Chris Collins to his boyhood home.
Collins’ father, Doug, coaches the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and played for the team from 1973-81. Chris was born in 1974, and...

VCU enters the NCAA tournament with a 26-8 record, not quite as glossy as last season, when the Rams were 28-6. Yet VCU is a No. 5 seed, light years better than last year’s No. 12.
Coach Shaka Smart knows why.
“A lot of people don’t talk about this, but...

Gene Corrigan ran Notre Dame athletics from 1981-87. He ran the ACC from 1987-97. No one pines for an Irish-ACC marriage more than he. “I think it would be wonderful,” Corrigan said. But can it happen? Would Notre Dame ever relinquish its football...

ACC commissioner John Swofford made news at the conference’s preseason basketball gabfest Wednesday.
Very good news for those of us who appreciate the league’s historic sense of equity.
Of most interest nationally, Swofford dismissed chatter of...

Pacific 12 presidents brought wisdom and calm to realignment panic Tuesday night, sparing college athletics, for now, “super conferences,” and increasing the likelihood of a long-term, 14-member ACC.
The Pac-12 member CEOs could have expanded the...

No, Free Music Friday isn't starting the holiday weekend early. It's just running a bit behind. You know how it goes.Today's track comes from the Portland, Ore., band Typhoon. What does it sound like? Well, it's complicated. You'll find rattling...

Banners commemorating each of VCU's nine previous NCAA tournament appearances hang from the Siegel Center. Suffice to say, the 10th will be unique and raised amid much fanfare.
Question is: Will it be a Final Four or, dare we ponder, national...

For most of us, buying a car -- yes, even a used car -- is one of the biggest purchases we'll ever make. Sure, a shiny new vehicle is the dream. But the reality often is a dinged pre-owned ride bought with the hope that it will not turn into a...

Two complete strangers, linked for two years by talent and anticipation, will finally meet Tuesday. Felipe Lopez. Allen Iverson. El Senor. Bubbachuck.Mere freshmen, they are heralded as the saviors of the Big East, a once-mighty basketball conference gone...

Seed-starting pots you make from newsprint are practically free. Because
they break down quickly, you can plant them right in the garden,
reducing transplant shock. Both black and colored inks used in today's
newspapers are safe.
1. Find a can or round...

Staggeringly long lines at the nation's airports this spring have led officials in Chicago, New York City, Atlanta and Seattle to discuss turning security over to private contractors, instead of employees of the Transportation Security Administration.
...

As far as summers go, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign could not have seen much worse.
Chancellor Phyllis Wise resigned amid an email scandal, with her provost following suit less than three weeks later.
A former soccer player stung the...

SOCHI, Russia — After taking a few practice runs down the halfpipe at the Sochi Olympics earlier this week, Hannah Teter had some concerns. To say the least.
"I couldn't do any of my tricks," the American snowboarder said. "It was just the worst pipe I'd...

If there's a gold medal for tweeting, we have a winner.
When Stacy St. Clair arrived in Sochi to cover the Winter Olympics for the Chicago Tribune, she probably wasn't expecting to tweet this. And she definitely wasn't expecting this tweet to go viral....

The documentary "Life Itself," directed by Steve James of "Hoop Dreams" and "The Interrupters" and based on the late Roger Ebert's 2011 memoir, could have settled for well-meaning hagiography or a feature-length pitch for sainthood. Many of Ebert's...

Never let it be said that Lily Tomlin and Jane Wagner rushed into marriage.
After 42 years together, the couple were married New Year's Eve, Liz Smith reported Friday in the Chicago Tribune. People and others confirmed Tuesday that it was a private...